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This is the worst legislation ever. I base that statement on the testimony before the Ways and Means Committee of Stephen Goss, Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administration. For those of you who want to verify what I write below, here is a link: http://waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/20160322-SS-Testimony-Goss.pdf.

Long story short, when fully implemented, this bill increases the SS benefits of 1.25 million people who are currently impacted by the WEP. However, the new formula reduces the benefits of 0.25 million people who are currently impacted by the WEP and it reduces the benefits of 14 MILLION PEOPLE who are not currently impacted but will become impacted by the new formula because they made the mistake of working in non-covered employment, at some point in their careers, even if only for 1 year - never mind that they are not receiving a pension based on that short stint (Goss testimony, p. 3). Because the ratio of losers to winners under HR 711 is over 11 to 1, in the aggregate, Social Security benefits paid would be $3.4 Billion lower annually. Truth-in-advertising would lead one to retitle this bill “The Social Security Benefit Reduction Act of 2015.”

But that is not all. ALL current beneficiaries (yes, even 90-year-olds) who have any non-covered earnings and less than 30 years of substantial covered earnings will be subjected to WEP audits; they will have to submit certifications from all previous non covered employers (even from jobs they had 30-40 years ago) that the employment in question did not qualify them for a pension. If they fail to submit by the end of 2016 their SS benefit is retroactively reduced back to the month they began receiving benefits. This “overpayment” will then be recovered from their future benefit checks and in addition, their benefit check going forward is reduced to reflect the new WEP reduction they will be subjected to. 7 MILLION current beneficiaries will be audited (Goss testimony, p.4).

If this bill is passed in its current form, the uproar will be deafening.